Showing up to the airport security checkpoint without the proper identification could soon cost you.
TSA has proposed a new $18 fee for travelers who come to the airport without a Real ID as part of an alternate identity verification system that the agency plans to launch in the near future.
According to a notice published by TSA in the federal register, the new program will provide a “technology-enabled alternative” to attempt to verify travelers’ identities without a physical Real ID, such as a driver’s license or passport. Travelers who choose to use the new program will submit biographical information and/or biometric data, like a facial recognition scan, in order to prove their identity.
In order to use the new technology in place of a physical ID check, travelers will need to pay the $18 levy. Passengers who pay the fee can then use the system for 10 days, which would cover many travelers’ return journeys as well. The agency says charging fliers would help cover the cost of the new technology and allow them to “substantially” expand the service to a larger number of airports across the nation.
The Real ID rules went into effect in May 2025 and mean that all travelers must present an enhanced driver’s license, passport, Global Entry card, or other form of federal identification at the airport security checkpoint. (TSA has a full list of accepted IDs on its website.)
Currently, travelers who show up to the TSA kiosk without a Real ID are shifted to a separate area where TSA officers attempt to verify their identities by asking them questions about their biographical information. Officers then pass the information to the National Transportation Vetting Center, a TSA call center that helps conduct the identity verification using travelers’ personal information. Then, travelers are potentially subjected to additional screening procedures, like more intense bag searches and possible pat-downs, at the security checkpoint, and there’s no guarantee they’ll be allowed to proceed to their departure gate.
“The current alternative identity verification process is time and resource intensive, limiting the number of individuals for whom TSA can provide the service,” says the agency’s notice in the federal register. The more modernized system would replace the TSA call center with an automated tech-supported option, as well as add the biometric scans.
Airline passengers traveling for Thanksgiving won’t need to worry about paying the extra $18 fee yet. The TSA’s notice doesn’t mention a launch date for the new program, but current projections put the system’s rollout in January 2026 at the earliest, as it typically takes 30-60 days for a federal register notice to become a final rule.
